How is Tantalum, a rare metal found in Sutlej, significant for India’s Electronics sector?

In a major development that could revolutionise the electronics and semiconductor industry in India, scientists discovered a rare metal viz. Tantalum in the Sutlej river. The discovery was made by a team of reserchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar, Punjab headed by Dr Reshmi Sebastian, who is an assistant professor in the Civil Engineering Department at the institute.The metal widely used in the electronics and semiconductor sector could potentially catapult India to emerge as a hub of the semiconductor and chip making Industry. According to media reports, an IIT Ropar student made the discovery while conducting research on the characterisation of the sand in the River Sutlej. A government official as quoted in a media report said the quantum of the metal in the river will be determined after conducting a detailed study.The team from IIT Ropar after making the discovery submitted a proposal to the Punjab government for collecting samples from the River Sutlej from about 125 locations to identify rare metals and components.What is Tantalum?Tantalum is a rare metal and is grey, heavy, very hard, and is known for being one of the most corrosion-resistant metals. With the characteristic of having a high corrosion resistance, it is also malleable when in pure form. With a high melting point, it can be stretched, pulled and drawn into a thin wire without breaking.The rare metal is widely used in the electronics and semiconductor sector because of its unique nature, the capacitors manufactured using Tantalum doesn’t allow much electricity leakage with high electricity storage scope compared to other capacitors. Thus, the metal is an ideal candidate to be used in portable devices, including smart phones, laptops and cameras. Additionally, it can also act as a cheap alternative to platinum, used in making jewellery, converters in cars, trucks and buses. It also has many used cases in the defence sector, chemical plants, nuclear power plants, missiles and fighter jets.Tantalum was discovered first by a Swedish scientist named Anders Gustaf Ekenberg in 1802.

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How is Tantalum, a rare metal found in Sutlej, significant for India’s Electronics sector?

In a development that could revolutionise India's electronics and semiconductor industry, scientists discovered a rare metal viz. Tantalum in the Sutlej river.

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